Died on Saturday, 17th January – Famous Deaths

17/01/2025

Didier Guillaume, French politician, 25th Minister of State of Monaco (born 1959)

Didier Guillaume was a French politician who briefly served as minister of state of Monaco from 2024 until his death in 2025. He previously served as the minister of agriculture and food in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe from 2018 to 2020. A member of the Socialist Party until 2018, he was President of the General Council of Drôme from 2004 to 2015, Senator for Drôme from 2008 to 2018 and president of the Socialist group in the Senate from 2014 to 2018.

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Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator (born 1929)

Jules Ralph Feiffer was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for editorial cartooning and, in 2004, Feiffer was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. He wrote the animated short Munro, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1961. The Library of Congress has recognized Feiffer's "remarkable legacy", from 1946 to the present, as a cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, adult and children's book author, illustrator, and art instructor.

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Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, Mongolian politician, 1st President of Mongolia (born 1942)

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was a Mongolian politician who served as the first president of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997. He was the first president to be elected by direct popular vote.

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Denis Law, Scottish footballer (born 1940)

Denis Law was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City for an estimated transfer fee of £55,000, which set a new British record. Law spent one year there before Torino bought him for £110,000, this time setting a new record fee for a transfer involving a British player. Although he played well in Italy, he found it difficult to settle there and signed for Manchester United in 1962, setting another British record transfer fee of £115,000.

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17/01/2023

Lucile Randon, French supercentenarian (born 1904)

Lucile Randon, also known as Sister André, was a French supercentenarian who, until her death at the age of 118 years, 340 days, was the world's oldest verified living person following the death of Kane Tanaka on 19 April 2022. She is the fourth-oldest verified person ever, the oldest nun ever, and the oldest confirmed survivor of the COVID-19 pandemic, having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 a month before her 117th birthday.

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17/01/2022

Birju Maharaj, Indian dancer (born 1937)

Birju Maharaj was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist. After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi.

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17/01/2021

Rasheed Naz, Pakistani film and television actor (born 1948)

Rasheed Naz was a Pakistani film and television actor. He started his television career in 1971 in a Pashto television play and went on to work in several Pashto, Hindko and Urdu-language plays.

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17/01/2020

Derek Fowlds, British actor (born1937)

Derek James Fowlds was an English actor. He played "Mr Derek" in The Basil Brush Show (1969–1973), Bernard Woolley in the sitcom Yes Minister (1980–1984) and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister (1986–1988), and Sgt Oscar Blaketon in Heartbeat (1992–2010).

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17/01/2019

S. Balakrishnan, Malayalam movie composer (born 1948)

S. Balakrishnan was an Indian film score composer and music director who worked mainly in Malayalam cinema. Best known for his association with the director duo Siddique-Lal, he has scored some of the all-time hit songs in late 1980s and early 1990s.

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17/01/2017

Tirrel Burton, American football player and coach (born 1929)

Tirrel Burton was an American football player, coach, and radio broadcaster. He played halfback for Ara Parseghian's championship teams at Miami University in 1954 and 1955 and led the undefeated, untied 1955 team in rushing, scoring, pass interceptions, kickoff returns and punt returns, while breaking the university's all-time single-season scoring record. He played one year of professional football in 1956 for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He was an assistant football coach at Central State University (1968), Miami University (1969) and the University of Michigan (1970–1991). He became a radio announcer for Michigan Wolverines football games on WUOM radio in 1994.

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Colo, American western lowland gorilla, first gorilla born in captivity and oldest recorded (born 1956)

Colo was a western gorilla widely known as the first gorilla to be born in captivity anywhere in the world and the oldest known gorilla in the world in 2017. Colo was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to Millie Christina (mother) and Baron Macombo (father), and lived there for her entire life. She was briefly called "Cuddles" before a contest was held to officially name her. Colo's name was derived from the place of her birth, Columbus, Ohio.

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17/01/2016

Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1939)

Clarence Henry Reid was an American musician, songwriter and producer also known by the stage name and alternate persona Blowfly. He released over 25 parody albums as Blowfly and another three albums as Clarence Reid.

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Melvin Day, New Zealand painter and historian (born 1923)

Melvin Norman "Pat" Day was a New Zealand artist and art historian.

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V. Rama Rao, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor of Sikkim (born 1935)

V Rama Rao served as Governor of Sikkim from 2002 to 2007. He started his political career in 1956 when he joined Jana Sangh and went on to become a National Leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and was elected to Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Council from Hyderabad Graduates' Constituency for four consecutive terms in 1966, 1972, 1978 and 1984. He served as a Party Floor Leader in council during his last term.

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Sudhindra Thirtha, Indian religious leader (born 1926)

Shrimad Sudhindra Thirtha Swamiji, also referred to as Shri Sudhindra Thirtha Swamiji, was the legal and spiritual head (mathadipathi) of the Kashi Math and the twentieth successive person called the swamiji of guru parampara.

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17/01/2015

Ken Furphy, English footballer and manager (born 1931)

Kenneth Furphy was an English football player and manager.

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Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (born 1931)

Faten Ahmed Hamama was an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer. She made her screen debut in 1939, when she was only seven years old. Her earliest roles were minor, but her activity and gradual success helped to establish her as a distinguished Egyptian actress. Later revered as an icon in Egyptian cinema. In 1996, nine of the films she starred in were included in the Top hundred films in the history of Egyptian cinema by the cinema critics of Cairo International Film Festival.

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Don Harron, Canadian actor and screenwriter (born 1924)

Donald Hugh Harron, was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running country music series Hee Haw, on which he played his signature character of Charlie Farquharson.

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17/01/2014

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq (born 1915)

Mohammed Burhanuddin was the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras from 1965 to 2014. He led the community for 49 years in a period of social, economic, and educational prosperity; strengthened and re-institutionalized the fundamental core of the community's faith; revived its culture, tradition, and heritage. In successfully achieving coexistence of traditional Islamic values and modern Western practices within the community, Burhanuddin completed the work his predecessor Taher Saifuddin had started.

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Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (born 1940)

Francine Lalonde was a Canadian politician who served on both the provincial and federal levels. Prior to being elected, she was a lecturer, teacher, and unionist.

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Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, English businessman and politician (born 1942)

Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

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John J. McGinty III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1940)

Captain John James McGinty III was a United States Marine Corps officer who received the United States militaries' highest decoration — the Medal of Honor — for heroism during July 1966 in the Vietnam War.

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Sunanda Pushkar, Indian-Canadian businesswoman (born 1962)

Sunanda Pushkar was an Indian-born Canadian businesswoman. She was a sales director in the Dubai-based TECOM Investments, and a co-owner of the India-based Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), a cricket franchise in the Indian Premier League. Pushkar was the wife of former International diplomat serving under the UN and politician Shashi Tharoor.

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Suchitra Sen, Indian film actress (born 1931)

Suchitra Sen, widely known as the Mahanayika, was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite actor Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema.

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17/01/2013

Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish journalist and author (born 1941)

Mehmet Ali Birand was a Kurdish-Turkish journalist, political commentator and writer.

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Jakob Arjouni, German author (born 1964)

Jakob Bothe, better known by his pen name Jakob Arjouni, was a German author. He received the 1992 German Crime Fiction Prize for One Man, One Murder.

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Yves Debay, Belgian journalist (born 1954)

Yves Debay, was a veteran French-Belgian war correspondent, who founded and reported for the French-language magazines Raids and later Assaut ("Assault"), which is published out of Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. He was the first Belgian journalist to be killed in Syria.

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John Nkomo, Zimbabwean politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (born 1934)

John Landa Nkomo was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. After serving for years as a minister in the government of Zimbabwe, he was the Speaker of Parliament from 2005 to 2008. He was then appointed to the Senate in 2008 and was Minister of State in the President's Office in 2009. Nkomo was also a key figure in the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF); he was National Chairman of ZANU–PF until December 2009, when he was elected as Vice President of ZANU–PF. As a consequence of his elevation to the party's vice presidency, he also became Vice President of Zimbabwe in December 2009.

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Lizbeth Webb, English soprano and actress (born 1926)

Betty Ethel Holton, better known by her stage name, Lizbeth Webb, was an English soprano and stage actress. Known as "the champagne soprano", she is remembered partly for originating the song "This Is My Lovely Day".

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17/01/2012

Julius Meimberg, German soldier and pilot (born 1917)

Julius Meimberg was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 53 aerial victories—that is, 53 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in over 250 combat missions. In the 1960s, he invented an open-end spinning device and received patents in the US and Germany for it. In 1970, Meimberg founded the travel agency "Meimberg" and in 2001, he received the Rudolf-Diesel-Medaille for his achievements as an inventor.

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Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1921)

Johnny Otis, born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes, was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, talent scout, and preacher. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He discovered numerous artists early in their careers who went on to become highly successful in their own right, including Little Esther Phillips, Etta James, Alan O'Day, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and The Robins, Sugar Pie DeSanto, among many others. Otis has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".

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Marty Springstead, American baseball player and umpire (born 1937)

Martin John Springstead was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1985 and had since worked as an umpire supervisor. He was the youngest umpire ever to serve as crew chief in the World Series, heading the staff for the 1973 Series at the age of 36 years and 3 months.

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17/01/2011

Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (born 1934)

Donald Kirshner was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by Time, he was best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups including the Monkees, Kansas, and the Archies.

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17/01/2010

Gaines Adams, American football player (born 1983)

Gaines DeMario Adams IV was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for Clemson University, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American. He was drafted in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft, and played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears of the NFL. Adams died unexpectedly in 2010 from a previously undetected heart condition.

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Jyoti Basu, Indian politician and 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (born 1914)

Jyoti Basu was an Indian Marxist theorist, communist activist, and politician. He was one of the most prominent leaders of Communist movement in India. He served as the 6th and longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000. He was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was a member of Politburo of the party since its formation in 1964 till 2008. He was also a member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly 11 times. In his political career, spanning over seven decades, he was noted to have been the India's longest serving chief minister in an elected democracy, at the time of his resignation. He declined the post of Prime Minister after the 1996 Indian general election after the CPM refused to let him head a multi-party coalition as it would not be able to implement Marxist programs and relinquished the prime ministership to Deve Gowda.

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Michalis Papakonstantinou, Greek journalist and politician, Foreign Minister of Greece (born 1919)

Michalis Papakonstantinou was a Greek politician and author. He studied law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Papakonstantinou served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 7 August 1992 until 13 October 1993, as a member of the New Democracy Party.

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Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (born 1937)

Erich Wolf Segal was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel Love Story (1970) and its film adaptation.

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17/01/2009

Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist and historian (born 1943)

Rolf Anders Isaksson was a Swedish journalist, writer, and historian, possibly best known for his four-volume biography of Swedish social democratic politics and Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson's life.

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17/01/2008

Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (born 1943)

Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.

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Ernie Holmes, American football player, wrestler, and actor (born 1948)

Earnest Lee Holmes was an American professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "Fats", he was selected by the Steelers in the eighth round of the 1971 NFL draft and won two Super Bowl titles with the team. He spent all but one season of his career in Pittsburgh, retiring in 1978 after a stint with the New England Patriots.

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17/01/2007

Art Buchwald, American journalist and author (born 1925)

Arthur Buchwald was an American humorist best known for his column in The Washington Post. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspapers. His column focused on political satire and commentary.

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Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian engineer and politician (born 1951)

Yevhen Petrovych Kushnaryov was a Ukrainian politician. Kushnaryov was considered one of the chief ideologues of the Party of Regions and a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

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Uwe Nettelbeck, German record producer, journalist and film critic (born 1940)

Uwe Nettelbeck was a German record producer, journalist and film critic. He was best known as the creator and producer of the German krautrock band Faust and changed the face of German rock music in the early 1970s. He was also one of Germany's leading film critics in the 1960s.

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17/01/2006

Pierre Grondin, Canadian surgeon (born 1925)

Pierre Grondin, was a Canadian cardiac surgeon known for his contributions to heart transplantation and cardiac surgery. After completing postgraduate training with Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley in Houston, Texas, Grondin introduced advanced techniques—such as open-heart surgery using the heart-lung machine and coronary artery bypass surgery—at the Montreal Heart Institute. In the early 1950s, he contributed to the development of open-heart surgery using the heart-lung machine. In May 1968, Grondin performed Canada's first successful heart transplant at the Montreal Heart Institute.

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17/01/2005

Charlie Bell, Australian businessman (born 1960)

Charles Hamilton Bell AO was an Australian business executive. He was president of the American fast-food chain McDonald's from December 2002, and chief executive officer from April to November 2004. Bell was the first non-American and the youngest person to hold that position.

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Virginia Mayo, American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1920)

Virginia Mayo was an American actress. She was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros.' biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. She is also known for her roles in the war drama The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the film noir White Heat (1949), and the war adventure Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951).

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Albert Schatz, American microbiologist and academic (born 1920)

Albert Israel Schatz was an American microbiologist and academic who discovered streptomycin, the first antibiotic known to be effective for the treatment of tuberculosis. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1942 with a bachelor's degree in soil microbiology, and received his doctorate from Rutgers in 1945. His PhD research led directly to the discovery of streptomycin.

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Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, 3rd Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1919)

Zhao Ziyang was a Chinese politician. He served as the 3rd premier of China from 1980 to 1987, as vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and as the CCP general secretary from 1987 to 1989. He was in charge of the political reforms in China from 1986, but lost power for his support of the 1989 Tian'anmen Square protests.

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17/01/2004

Raymond Bonham Carter, English banker (born 1929)

Raymond Henry Bonham Carter was a British banker and a member of the prominent Bonham Carter family.

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Harry Brecheen, American baseball player and coach (born 1914)

Harry David Brecheen, nicknamed "the Cat", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns. He become the first left-hander to win three games in a single World Series, and the only pitcher to win consecutive World Series games. He later led the National League in several categories in 1948.

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Ray Stark, American film producer (born 1915)

Raymond Otto Stark was an American film producer and talent agent. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most profitable films of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, such as The World of Suzie Wong (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Misfits (1961), Lolita (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Funny Girl (1968), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), The Goodbye Girl (1977), The Toy (1982), Annie (1982), and Steel Magnolias (1989).

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Noble Willingham, American actor (born 1931)

Noble Henry Willingham, Jr. was an American actor who appeared in more than thirty films and in many television shows, including a stint opposite Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger.

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17/01/2003

Richard Crenna, American actor and director (born 1926)

Richard Donald Crenna was an American actor and television director.

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17/01/2002

Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquess of Iria Flavia was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement.

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Roman Personov, Russian physicist and academic (born 1932)

Roman Ivanovich Personov was a Soviet and Russian scientist, professor, doctor, one of the founders of selective laser spectroscopy of complex molecules in solids.

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17/01/2000

Philip Jones, English trumpet player and educator (born 1928)

Philip Jones was a British trumpeter and leader of an internationally famous brass chamber music ensemble.

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Ion Rațiu, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1917)

Ion Rațiu was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician. In addition, he was the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) in the 1990 Romanian presidential election in which he subsequently finished third, behind the post-communist Ion Iliescu of the National Salvation Front (FSN) and Radu Câmpeanu of the National Liberal Party (PNL), with only 617,007 votes.

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17/01/1997

Bert Kelly, Australian farmer and politician, 20th Australian Minister for the Navy (born 1912)

Charles Robert "Bert" Kelly was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and was an influential campaigner for free trade and the elimination of tariffs. He held ministerial office under Harold Holt and John Gorton as Minister for Navy (1967–1968) and Minister for Works (1968–1969). He represented the South Australian seat of Wakefield in the House of Representatives from 1958 to 1977.

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Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (born 1906)

Clyde William Tombaugh was an American astronomer and telescope maker, best known for discovering Pluto in 1930, marking the first detection of what would eventually be recognized as the Kuiper belt. At the time, Pluto was referred to as the ninth planet in the Solar System, a classification that stood for over seven decades.

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17/01/1996

Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (born 1936)

Barbara Charline Jordan was an American politician, lawyer, and educator. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first southern African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and one of the first two African Americans elected to the U.S. House from the former Confederacy since 1901, alongside Andrew Young of Georgia.

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Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist (born 1922)

Sylvia Dorothy Lawler was an English geneticist who worked in the field of human genetics.

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17/01/1994

Yevgeni Ivanov, Russian spy (born 1926)

Captain Yevgeny Mikhailovich Ivanov, also known as Eugene Ivanov, was a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy in London during the early 1960s, and was also engaged in espionage. His affair with Christine Keeler resulted in another of her lovers, John Profumo, resigning from the United Kingdom government, in what became known as the Profumo affair.

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Helen Stephens, American runner, shot putter, and discus thrower (born 1918)

Helen Herring Stephens was an American athlete and a double Olympic champion in 1936.

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17/01/1993

Albert Hourani, English-Lebanese historian and academic (born 1915)

Albert Habib Hourani, was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies.

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17/01/1992

Frank Pullen, English soldier and businessman (born 1915)

Francis Henry Pullen was an English businessperson and racehorse owner.

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17/01/1991

Olav V of Norway (born 1903)

Olav V was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

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17/01/1990

Panka Pelishek, Bulgarian pianist and music teacher (born 1899)

Panka Pelishek was a Bulgarian pianist and music teacher. She played as a soloist and a chamber musician, particularly known for performing Beethoven's works. In teaching, she encouraged students to follow "their own artistic path".

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17/01/1988

Percy Qoboza, South African journalist and author (born 1938)

Percy Peter Tshidiso Qoboza was an influential black South African journalist, author, and outspoken critic of the apartheid government in South Africa during the early periods of world recognition of the problems evident in the racially divided land. His eloquent editorials did much to challenge white South Africans who were shielded from the horrors of apartheid as experienced by millions of black South Africans at the hands of the minority government.

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17/01/1987

Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (born 1908)

Hugo Geronimo Fregonese was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country during the classical era of Argentine cinema.

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Lawrence Kohlberg, American psychologist and author (born 1927)

Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of moral development.

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17/01/1984

Kostas Giannidis, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1903)

Ioannis Constantinidis, also known by the pen name Kostas Giannidis, was a Greek composer, pianist and conductor.

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17/01/1981

Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer and lawyer (born 1899)

Loukas Panourgias was a Greek athlete and footballer.

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17/01/1977

Dougal Haston, Scottish mountaineer (born 1940)

Duncan "Dougal" Curdy MacSporran Haston was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountaineering at Leysin, Switzerland, a role he held until his death in an avalanche while skiing above Leysin.

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Gary Gilmore, American murderer (born 1940)

Gary Mark Gilmore was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing in Utah. After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes in the 1976 decision Gregg v. Georgia, he became the first person in almost ten years to be executed in the United States. These new statutes avoided the problems under the 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which had resulted in earlier death penalty statutes being deemed "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Gilmore was executed by a firing squad in 1977. His life and execution were the subject of the 1979 nonfiction novel The Executioner's Song, by Norman Mailer, and the 1982 TV film of the novel starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore.

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17/01/1972

Betty Smith, American author and playwright (born 1896)

Betty Smith was an American playwright and novelist, who wrote the 1943 bestseller A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

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17/01/1970

Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoon player and educator (born 1890)

Simon Kovar was a Russian-American bassoonist and one of the first renowned teachers of bassoon in the United States.

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Billy Stewart, American rhythm and blues singer and pianist (born 1937)

William Larry Stewart II was an American R&B singer and pianist popular during the 1960s.

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17/01/1961

Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (born 1925)

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the First Congolese Republic from June until September 1960, following the May 1960 election. Lumumba was the leader of the Congolese National Movement (MNC) from 1958 until his assassination in 1961. Ideologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist, he played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.

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17/01/1952

Walter Briggs Sr., American businessman (born 1877)

Walter Owen Briggs Sr. was an American entrepreneur and professional sports owner. He was part-owner of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball from 1919 to 1935, and then sole owner from 1935 to his death in 1952. Briggs also helped fund the Detroit Zoo in 1928, and personally paid for many of its first exhibits. He was also a patron of Eastern Michigan University and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

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17/01/1951

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director (born 1903)

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was a noted Indian playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and film maker from Assam. He was deeply revered for his creative vision and output and is popularly called the Rupkonwar of Assamese culture. In fact, he is regarded as the founder of Assamese cinema for Joymoti (1935). He was also active as freedom fighter and involved in India's independence movement Quit India Movement. His death day anniversary is observed as Silpi divas his honour.

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17/01/1947

Pyotr Krasnov, Russian historian and general (born 1869)

Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov, also known as Peter Krasnov, was a Russian military leader, writer and later Nazi collaborator.

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Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (born 1883)

Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve was a Canadian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Quebec from 1931 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933.

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17/01/1942

Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (born 1884)

Walter Karl Gustav August Ernst von Reichenau was a German Generalfeldmarschall in the Heer (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was nicknamed "The Bull". Reichenau commanded the 6th Army, during the invasions of Belgium and France. During Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, he continued to command the 6th Army as part of Army Group South as it captured Ukraine and advanced deep into the USSR.

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17/01/1936

Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (born 1885)

Mateiu Ion Caragiale, also credited as Matei or Matheiu, or in the antiquated version Mateiŭ, was a Romanian poet and prose writer, best known for his novel Craii de Curtea-Veche, which portrays the milieu of boyar descendants before and after World War I. Caragiale's style, associated with Symbolism, the Decadent movement of the fin de siècle, and early modernism, was an original element in the Romanian literature of the interwar period. In other late contributions, Caragiale pioneered detective fiction locally, but there is disagreement over whether his work in the field produced a complete narrative or just fragments. The scarcity of writings he left is contrasted by their critical acclaim and a large, mostly posthumous, following, commonly known as mateists.

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17/01/1933

Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (born 1848)

Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in art glass, especially stained glass and Favrile glass. He is associated with the art nouveau and aesthetic art movements. He was affiliated with a prestigious collaborative of designers known as the Associated Artists, which included Lockwood de Forest, Candace Wheeler, and Samuel Colman. Tiffany designed stained glass windows and lamps, glass mosaics, blown glass such as vases, ceramics, jewelry, enamels, and metalwork. Glass work by Tiffany Studios is known as Tiffany glass. He was the first design director at his family company, Tiffany & Co., founded by his father Charles Lewis Tiffany.

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17/01/1932

Ahmet Derviş, Turkish general (born 1881)

Ahmet Derviş also known as Derviş Bey or Derviş Pasha was an officer of the Ottoman Army and a general of the Turkish Army.

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Albert Jacka, Australian captain, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1893)

Albert Jacka, was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Jacka was the first Australian to be decorated with the VC during the First World War, receiving the medal for his actions during the Gallipoli Campaign. He later served on the Western Front and was twice more decorated for his bravery.

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17/01/1931

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (born 1864)

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia was a Russian Grand Duke and a member of the Russian Imperial Family.

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17/01/1930

Gauhar Jaan, One of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India. (born 1873)

Gauhar Jaan was an Indian singer and dancer from Kolkata. Popularly known as the gramophone girl, they were India's first celebrity singer. She was one of the first preferences for audio houses to record music on the then-new 78 rpm record in India c. 1902.

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17/01/1927

Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (born 1860)

Juliette Gordon Low was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scout Movement, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, forming her own group of Girl Guides there in 1911.

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17/01/1911

Francis Galton, English polymath, anthropologist, and geographer (born 1822)

Sir Francis Galton was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics.

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17/01/1909

Agathon Meurman, Finnish politician and journalist (born 1826)

Agathon Meurman was a Finnish politician and journalist. He was one of the key persons of the Fennoman movement and since 1863 the leader of the Finnish Party together with Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen.

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Francis Smith, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th Premier of Tasmania (born 1819)

Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith was an Australian lawyer, judge and politician, who served as the fourth Premier of Tasmania from 12 May 1857 until 1 November 1860.

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17/01/1908

Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1835)

Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany was the last Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1859 to 1860.

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17/01/1903

Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (born 1828)

Ignaz Wechselmann was a Hungarian architect and philanthropist.

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17/01/1896

Augusta Hall, Baroness Llanover, Welsh writer and patron of the arts (born 1802)

Augusta Hall, Baroness Llanover, born Augusta Waddington, was a Welsh heiress, best known as a patron of the Welsh arts.

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17/01/1893

Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (born 1822)

Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. He served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861 and was known as a staunch abolitionist who defended refugee slaves in court proceedings. At the start of the Civil War, Hayes left a fledgling political career to join the Union army. He was wounded five times, most seriously at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862. Hayes earned a reputation for bravery in combat, rising in the ranks to serve as brevet major general. After the war, he was a prominent member of the "Half-Breed" faction of the Republican Party. Hayes served in Congress from 1865 to 1867 and was elected governor of Ohio, serving two consecutive terms from 1868 to 1872 and half of a third two-year term from 1876 to 1877 before his swearing-in as president.

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17/01/1891

George Bancroft, American historian and politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (born 1800)

George Bancroft was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and international levels.

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17/01/1888

Big Bear, Canadian tribal chief (born 1825)

Big Bear, also known as Mistahi-maskwa, was a powerful and popular Cree chief who played many pivotal roles in Canadian history. He was appointed to chief of his band at the age of 40 upon the death of his father, Black Powder. Big Bear is most notable for his involvement in Treaty 6 and the 1885 North-West Rebellion; he was one of the few chief leaders who objected to the signing of the treaty with the Canadian government. He felt that signing the treaty would ultimately have devastating effects on his nation as well as other Indigenous nations. This included losing the free nomadic lifestyle that his nation and others were accustomed to. Big Bear also took part in one of the last major battles between the Cree and the Blackfoot nations, leading fighters in the last, largest battle on the Canadian Plains.

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17/01/1887

William Giblin, Australian lawyer and politician, 13th Premier of Tasmania (born 1840)

William Robert Giblin was Premier of Tasmania (Australia) from 5 March 1878 until 20 December 1878 and from 1879 until 1884.

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17/01/1884

Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist and herpetologist (born 1804)

Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist.

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17/01/1878

Edward Shepherd Creasy, English historian and jurist (born 1812)

Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy was an English historian and jurist.

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17/01/1869

Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Russian composer (born 1813)

Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky was a 19th-century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between Mikhail Glinka and the later generation of The Five and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

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17/01/1863

Horace Vernet, French painter (born 1789)

Émile Jean-Horace Vernet, better known as Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects.

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17/01/1861

Lola Montez, Irish actress and dancer (born 1821)

Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Gräfin (Countess) von Landsfeld. At the start of the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, she was forced to flee. She proceeded to the United States via Austria, Switzerland, France and London, to return to her work as an entertainer and lecturer.

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17/01/1850

Elizabeth Simcoe, English-Canadian painter and author (born 1762)

Dame Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe was an English artist and diarist in colonial Canada. Her husband, John Graves Simcoe, was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Her diary gives an account of Canadian life.

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17/01/1834

Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (born 1762)

Giovanni Aldini was an Italian medical doctor and physicist born in Bologna. He is considered a pioneer in the field of electrophysiology.

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17/01/1826

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish-French composer (born 1806)

Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola was a Spanish Basque composer. He was nicknamed "the Spanish Mozart" after he died, because, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was both a child prodigy and an accomplished composer who died young. They also shared the same first and second baptismal names; and they shared the same birthday, 27 January.

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17/01/1751

Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (born 1671)

Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is known today for his instrumental music, especially his concertos. He is best remembered today for a work called "Adagio in G minor", attributed to him but largely written by Remo Giazotto, a 20th-century musicologist and composer, who was a cataloguer of the works of Albinoni.

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17/01/1738

Jean-François Dandrieu, French organist and composer (born 1682)

Jean-François Dandrieu, also spelled D'Andrieu was a French Baroque composer, harpsichordist and organist.

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17/01/1737

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (born 1662)

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann (1662–1736) was a German master builder and architect who helped to rebuild Dresden after the fire of 1685. His most famous work is the Zwinger Palace.

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17/01/1718

Benjamin Church, American colonel (born 1639)

Colonel Benjamin Church was a military officer and politician from the New England Colonies who is best known for his role in innovative military tactics notably developing unconventional warfare. He is also known for commanding the first ranger units in North America. Born in the Plymouth Colony, Church was commissioned by Governor Josiah Winslow to establish a company of Rangers called after the outbreak of King Philip's War. Church participated in numerous conflicts which involved the New England Colonies. The force of New Englanders he led tracked down and killed Wampanoag sachem Metacomet, a major factor in ending the conflict.

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17/01/1705

John Ray, English botanist and historian (born 1627)

John Ray was an English Christian naturalist and one of the earliest English parson-naturalists. Until 1670 he wrote his name as John Wray; from then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him". He published important works in the fields of botany, zoology and natural theology.

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17/01/1617

Fausto Veranzio, Croatian bishop and lexicographer (born 1551)

Fausto Veranzio was a Croatian polymath, diplomat and bishop from Šibenik, then part of the Republic of Venice. He is a scientist recognised for his genius as both a Croatian and as a Croatian-Hungarian.

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17/01/1598

Feodor I of Russia (born 1557)

Feodor I Ioannovich or Fyodor I Ivanovich, nicknamed the Blessed (Блаженный), was Tsar of all Russia from 1584 until his death in 1598.

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17/01/1588

Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (born 1528)

Qi Jiguang, courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the coastal regions against wokou pirate activities in the 16th century, as well as for the reinforcement of the Great Wall of China. Qi is also known for writing the military manuals Jixiao Xinshu and Lianbing Shiji or Record of Military Training (練兵實紀), which he based on his experience as a martial educator and defensive planner in the Ming military forces. He is regarded as a hero in Chinese culture.

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17/01/1523

Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg, German landgravine (born 1466)

Landgravine Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg, German: Elisabeth Landgräfin von Hessen-Marburg, was a landgravine from the House of Hesse-Marburg and through marriage Countess of Nassau-Siegen. She was heiress to the County of Katzenelnbogen, which after her brother's death was claimed both by her and the Landgraviate of Hesse. The legal dispute for the County of Katzenelnbogen between the House of Nassau and the House of Hesse lasted until well after her death and is known as the Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit.

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17/01/1468

Skanderbeg, Albanian soldier and politician (born 1405)

Gjergj Kastrioti was an Albanian nobleman and military leader who led the League of Lezhë in the Ottoman-Albanian Wars until his death. Skanderbeg is considered to be a major figure of medieval Albanian history and today is the national hero of Albania.

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17/01/1456

Elisabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, French translator (born 1395)

Elizabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken was a German regent and translator. She was the Countess of Nassau-Weilburg by marriage to Philipp I, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, and the regent of the County of Nassau-Weilburg during the minority of her son Philip II between 1429 and 1438.

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17/01/1369

Peter I of Cyprus (born 1328)

Peter I was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus, he had some military successes, but he was unable to complete many of his plans due to internal disputes that culminated in his assassination at the hands of three of his knights.

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17/01/1345

Henry of Asti, Greek patriarch

Henry of Asti was the titular Latin Catholic patriarch of Constantinople from 1339 and bishop of Negroponte in Frankish Greece. His fame rests on his leadership of the first Smyrniote crusade (1342–45), on which he died.

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Martino Zaccaria, Genoese Lord of Chios

Martino Zaccaria was the Lord of Chios from 1314 to 1329, ruler of several other Aegean islands, and baron of Veligosti–Damala and Chalandritsa in the Principality of Achaea. He distinguished himself in the fight against Turkish corsairs in the Aegean Sea, and received the title of "King and Despot of Asia Minor" from the titular Latin Emperor, Philip II. He was deposed from his rule of Chios by a Byzantine expedition in 1329 and imprisoned in Constantinople until 1337. Martino then returned to Italy, where he was named the Genoese ambassador to the Holy See. In 1343, he was named commander of the Papal squadron in the Smyrniote crusade against Umur Bey, ruler of the Emirate of Aydin, and participated in the storming of Smyrna in October 1344. He was killed, along with several other leaders of the crusade, in a Turkish attack on 17 January 1345.

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17/01/1334

John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond (born 1266)

John of Brittany, 4th Earl of Richmond, was an English nobleman and a member of the Ducal house of Brittany, the House of Dreux. He entered royal service in England under his uncle Edward I, and also served Edward II. On 15 October 1306 he received his father's title of Earl of Richmond. He was named Guardian of Scotland in the midst of England's conflicts with Scotland and in 1311 Lord Ordainer during the baronial rebellion against Edward II.

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17/01/1329

Roseline of Villeneuve, Carthusian nun (born 1263)

Roseline of Villeneuve was a French Carthusian nun. She is regarded as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

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17/01/1229

Albert of Riga, German bishop (born 1165)

Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia was the third Catholic Bishop of Riga in Livonia. As the Bishop of Livonia, in 1201, he founded Riga, the modern capital city of Latvia, and the city was later made a bishopric. The building of the Riga Cathedral started during his tenure there in 1221.

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17/01/1168

Thierry, Count of Flanders (born 1099)

Theoderic, commonly known as Thierry of Alsace, was the fifteenth count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168. With a record of four campaigns in the Levant and Africa, he had a rare and distinguished record of commitment to crusading.

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17/01/1156

André de Montbard, fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar

André de Montbard was the fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar and also one of the founders of the Order.

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17/01/1040

Mas'ud I of Ghazni, Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire (born 998)

Masʽud I of Ghazni, known as Amīr-i Shahīd, was sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 1030 to 1040. The eldest son of Mahmud of Ghazni, he rose to power by seizing the Ghaznavid throne from his younger twin brother, Mohammad, who had been nominated as the heir upon the death of their father. Mohammad was shortly blinded and imprisoned. However, when much of Masʽud's western domains had been wrested from his control, his troops rebelled against him and reinstated his brother to the throne.

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17/01/0764

Joseph of Freising, German bishop

Joseph of Freising, also known as Joseph of Verona, was Bishop of Freising from 747 or 748 until his death.

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17/01/0644

Sulpitius the Pious, French bishop and saint

Sulpicius II. the Pious was a 7th-century bishop of Bourges and saint.

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17/01/0395

Theodosius I, Roman emperor (born 347)

Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. He ended the Gothic War (376–382), but did so on terms disadvantageous to the empire, with the Goths remaining politically autonomous within Roman territory, albeit as nominal allies.

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